Summer Half-Dips Are The Next Big Thing In Nail Art
If you’re looking for an easy DIY manicure that takes less than a half hour to create but goes a step beyond a basic coat of watermelon pink, half-dips are it. The fresh minimalist mani trend blowing up on Instagram looks exactly as it sounds: like dipping your fingertips in nail polish, painting the top half of the nail and leaving the bottom half bare.
According to manicurist Syreeta Aaron, an educator for LeChat Nails, the key to the half-dipped design is in the crisp dividing line (so the polish doesn’t look chipped). “You’ll paint the nail from the halfway point up to the tip,” Aaron instructs. “Then, to create a perfect line between the colour and negative space, use a small brush — an eyeshadow brush will work — dipped in polish remover and skim it across the dividing line of each nail.”
For colour, you can keep it simple with a single polish, or use a different bright polish on each half-dipped fingernail for a fresh take on the rainbow quarantine manicure. For visual inspiration aplenty, scroll ahead.
We first saw the budding summer manicure trend take off when model Taylor Hill posted her multicoloured half-dipped gels — and impressively, she did them herself.Here, you can see how artists at LA’s Colour Camp Salon have designed half-dips of varying sizes, colours, and orientations to create a rainbow, asymmetrical manicure.Another Colour Camp design shows sunny yellow-orange half-dips styled with subtle gold accents. (Tacos not included, but definitely encouraged.)Here, influencer Hannah Bronfman shows off her half-dipped design with a muted colour play and matte finish.London-based nail artist Imarni mixes summer’s hottest nail trends: suntanned polish and half-dipped accents.If you want to riff off the half-dip effect by giving it more of a fused pastel ombré vibe, pull inspiration from this design by nail pro Mei Kawajiri.
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